# Present It! Blogs

Choosing Blog Software

There are many software options available for blogging. First, you must determine where the blog should live.

Hosted blogs are blogs that, along with the publishing interface, live on the web server of a blog company. You can also get blog software that you install on a separate web host. There are pros and cons to both.

Hosted blogs are generally faster and easier to set up, so you can start blogging quickly. However, you can be limited in the amount of customization you can do on a hosted blog. 

Blogging software you install on a separate hosting service usually allows you more flexibility and control. But, even though the installation of the software is simple (usually one click), you need to know a little more about the technology to exercise that control.

How do you know which to use? That answer, determined by technical and editorial needs, convenience, speed and budget, varies for everyone. Here are the factors:

  1. Do you need to start blogging immediately?
  2. What features do you have to have?
  3. How are your technical skills?
  4. Do you already have experience with blog software or web publishing (HTML, CSS, etc.)?
  5. How much customization do you need?
  6. What are your future plans?
  7. Do you have a budget or need a free solution?
  8. Do you need to fit your blog into an existing web presence?

Technical details differ, but most blogging software works by creating a database that holds your posts, and then displaying those posts in templates. The database is responsible for keeping track of what comments go with what posts and making the search function work. The templates give you a consistent appearance every time you publish a new post. Together, the power of the database and templates means that updates to the design and layout can be implemented without editing hundreds of individual web pages.

Customizing the blog’s layout, appearance and functions is a separate job and varies depending on which blogging software you choose. Most tools include a set of designs you can use if you don't have the ability to code a design of your own. Some also include the ability to add such extras as a list of blogs you read, or photos and audio posts. Look around to find the one that suits your needs and plans best.

Here's a quick guide to blogging software:

  • Wordpress (www.wordpress.org) can be installed on a separate server or hosted for free. The Wordpress site lists recommended hosting services that offer one-click installation of Wordpress. It has an avid community of users.
  • Blogger (http://www.blogger.com) is a free, hosted blog service that gets you blogging in 10 minutes.
  • Typepad (http://www.typepad.com) offers three levels of hosted blog service with lots of add-ins to customize the blog without messing with code.
  • Movable Type (www.movabletype.org) was the mother of all blogging software when blogging first became popular but it has been surpassed by Wordpress and Blogger because most people find them easier to use.

Many online publishers are using blogging software to run entire news websites. Some are even incorporating blog features like comments into traditional news stories. If you are looking for a content management system with the power to run a small, medium or large web publishing operating and want the bells and whistles that come with blogs, consider:

  • Expression Engine (http://www.pmachine.com), a content management system with blog features. [Editor's note: This website is run with Expression Engine.]
  • Drupal (http://www.drupal.org), an open-source platform that is powers sites of all sizes and has a large and growing user community.
  • Mambo (http://www.mamboserver.com), an open-source content management system with blogging, plus polls, ratings and more.
  • Joomla (http://www.joomla.org), another open-source platform that does many of the same things as Mambo.

> READ NEXT ARTICLE: Managing Blog Comments

 

recent comments

    Be the first to comment on this page. You must register before you can leave a comment.


post a comment

You must be registered (free) in order to post a comment.

 

More on This Topic

Evaluate This Page

How useful was this article?
(5 is extremely useful)

rate this a 1 rate this a 2 rate this a 3 rate this a 4 rate this a 5

Others have rated
this article: 5.4 / 5

discuss this topic

Post a comment

on Advertising Your Site

After you create a site that job ended. Instead, you realize that you have nothing and you must again start working. Sites are like living organisms grow and gain popularity over time depending on what you do for him. It’s like a child to be raised with great care. If you give too much food is overweight.
Work is continuing and uninterrupted if you want to get results.
Masini from vand miere naturala

on RSS Feeds

Buy or sell timeshare with Bay Tree Solutions; browse timeshare resales; timeshares for sale and rent by owner; Learn about buying or selling timeshare on the resale market and how to Sell My Timeshare!

on RSS Feeds

Thanks for the great article. I really enjoyed it.

STD Testing
STD Test

on Maintaining Ethics and Standards

The iPad helped facilitate the wedding of Aaron and Katie, as it made its rounds to the priest Blue Wedding Dress and then the bride and groom. Not only did the bride, Katie, read her vows to her soon-to-be husband, Aaron, from the iPad, While the couple’s wedding was held outdoors, a gazebo provided shade to help make reading easier; the iPad’s glass screen and the sunlight usually don’t make a good combination for readability.Offbeat Bride reports on creative wedding ideas; Aaron and Katie’s iPad-enabled nuptials Bodice Wedding Dresses certainly qualify.If you plan on using your iPad in your wedding, you might as well plan your wedding using an iPad. You can use 100 Wedding Tips and the Wedding Guests app, which aims to help you make a final Bolero Wedding Dress decision on who to invite to your wedding and who to cut from the list.

on Legal Issues for Online Publishers

Your article is extremely impressive. I never considered that it was feasible to accomplish something like that until after I looked over your post. You certainly gave a great perception on exactly how this whole process works. I will make sure to return for more advice. Thanks

College Term Papers